Notre Dame wide receiver Joe Wilkins Jr. enters transfer portal
One of Notre Dame’s reserve wide receivers will look for a new place to finish his college career. Graduate student wide receiver Joe Wilkins Jr. has entered the transfer portal, he announced on social media Monday.
“I would like to thank the University of Notre Dame and all of my coaches for the chance to play football and earn a degree at one of the most renowned universities in the world,” Wilkins said in a social media statement. “I am very thankful for both the education I received and all of the relationships I have developed during my time in South Bend.
“To my brothers, I am especially grateful for you. I am honored to forever be a part of this brotherhood and family. The memories we have created will last a lifetime and I will always hold you close to my heart.
“I have made the difficult decision to enter the transfer portal in search of an opportunity to play my final season of eligibility. I look forward to seeing where my next chapter takes me.”
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Wilkins has played in seven games this year, with zero receptions. He has logged 27 snaps on offense and has not seen the field as a receiver since the Oct. 22 game vs. UNLV. The 2023 season will be his sixth in college football, a possibility granted to him because of the NCAA’s COVID-19 bonus year for all players on 2020 rosters.
Wilkins returned for the start of this season after suffering a Lisfranc fracture during a late March spring practice, but couldn’t work his way into the rotation in an already thin Notre Dame wide receiver unit. His season-high in snaps this year was seven, set against UNLV and the prior week against Stanford. His main role this season has been on kick return teams, where he has mainly been the off returner next to primary returner Chris Tyree.
Injuries were a bugaboo for Wilkins in his final two seasons. He also missed the final eight games of 2021 due to a torn MCL. He has 11 catches for 124 yards and two touchdowns in five seasons at Notre Dame. His most notable moments were a 23-yard touchdown catch in the 2021 opener vs. Florida State and a 4-reception, 39-yard outing in the 2020 opener vs. Duke. He was a three-star signee out of North Fort Myers (Fla.) High School in the 2018 class.
Notre Dame has six scholarship wide receivers without Wilkins: grad students Braden Lenzy and Matt Salerno, sophomores Lorenzo Styles, Deion Colzie and Jayden Thomas, and freshman Tobias Merriweather.
